My name is Mikasa Ackerman. I'm 12 years old. In the year 844, I lost my parents to kidnappers because of my Asian bloodline. They wanted to sell me as a slave to the underground market, earning themselves wealth while destroying my life in the process.
But Eren Yeager, the son of Doctor Yeager, saved me. He risked his own life to free me. He gave me shelter when I had nowhere to go. He comforted me when I had no shoulder to cry on. Became my entire world, my only reason to live. From that day forward, I swore I would never leave his side.
Wherever he went, I followed. Even when he slept, I would sit nearby, watching over him. My heart refused to be anywhere else. I didn't understand why, but I couldn't look away from him.
Mother (Carla), would catch me watching over him. She never questioned it. Instead, she would smile at me, as if she understood something I couldn't grasp.
We would play outside together—Eren, Armin, and I. Armin was different from others. He was gentle, always full of stories about the world beyond the walls.
He'd talk about water that glowed like fire, fields of ice and giant rocks that took days to climb. But what fascinated Eren the most was the sea—endless and stretching beyond the horizon.
Eren believed in Armin's stories with all his heart. I believed in Eren. His dreams became mine because I trusted him. He would make those dreams a reality, for Armin, for himself—and for me.
But my life had always been the cursed one. Our ambitions, our dreams, our goals—all shattered in the year 845, when Eren and I were only 10. Two monstrous beings—the Colossal and Armored Titans—appeared out of thin air, demolishing the gate of Shiganshina and breaching Wall Maria.
I still remember the day, though some parts of it blur together like a fading dream.
The memory feels foggy, but the emotions remain sharp. I can still see Eren's face—etched with shock, anger, and determination—as the chaos unfolded around us. The way he looked at me, desperate, like everything he held dear had been ripped away in an instant.
I guess it went something like this...
Year 845
The ground trembled beneath our feet as the towering Colossal Titan loomed above the gate, steam hissing from its massive frame. I heard the cracking of stone, the screams of our neighbors, and felt the weight of the dust settling over everything like a blanket of despair.
And in the blink of an eye, the entire gate was blown into smithereens. The deafening explosion sent debris hurtling through the air, crashing down on the district of Shiganshina like hellfire, crushing everything beneath it.
The once peaceful streets were now unrecognizable, buried under the rubble of shattered homes and scorched earth. People screamed, running in every direction, desperate to escape the chaos. Smoke and dust filled the air, making it hard to breathe, while the acrid smell of destruction lingered.
I could feel the tremor in the ground, each shockwave reverberating through my bones. The force of it all knocked me off balance, but Eren's hand held me steady, his grip never faltering. I could hear his breath, ragged with fear and fury, as the monstrous Titans towered over the city, their presence casting a shadow over everything we once knew.
"EREN!" Armin's voice cut through the chaos, his cry full of desperation as he stood a couple of yards away. I turned, only to see Eren shove me to the side of the road, just before the deafening crash of falling debris echoed through the streets.
I hit the ground hard, unable to keep my balance, my head slamming against the cold stone. The world around me blurred as I felt a warm trickle of blood slide down my face. My thoughts became hazy, slipping in and out of focus.
"Ereh..." I whispered, my voice weak as I stretched out my hand toward the fallen debris, fear clutching at my heart. Tears blurred my vision, and for a brief moment, I thought I had lost him.
But then I heard his voice. "Mikasa..." He grunted, his tone strained but alive. Relief flooded me, and I tried to rise, but my body refused to cooperate.
Armin, his face streaked with tears and panic, stumbled toward us. "Eren! Mikasa!" His voice wavered, caught between fear and urgency.
"Eren..." I murmured, my trembling hands reaching for his bloodied face. He was so close to being crushed, just inches away from the debris that could've taken him. But his arm was twisted unnaturally, broken, and blood spilled from his lips with every ragged breath.
Despite the pain, Eren's eyes focused on me. "Mikasa... You alright?" His voice was shaky but still filled with concern, as if his injuries didn't matter.
"Eren... Mikasa! We need to move, now!" Armin's voice rang out again, pulling me from the haze. His panic grounded me, reminded me that we weren't safe. I tried to stand, tried to force my body to move, but my legs were weak, trembling beneath me. I hadn't broken anything, but I was still paralyzed by the shock.
With trembling hands, I reached out, barely able to touch Eren's bloodied cheek. His eyes, always so determined, were filled with something foreign—fear. Fear of losing.
Then, a strange surge of energy coursed through me, something I couldn't understand but all I knew that it was because of Eren. Whenever he touched my cold skin with his warm palms it felt good... Really good. Though it was fleeting, but enough to make my heart race.
Before I could process it, Eren took off our scarf—the one he had always wrapped around me so carefully—and tied it tightly around my head, stopping the flow of blood. "Stay with me, Mikasa," he muttered, his breath labored, but his focus unwavering.
In the chaos, Armin's grandfather found us. His face, usually calm and kind, was now hard and authoritative. I could barely comprehend what was happening, but Eren's voice cut through the haze. "Uncle, take her to safety. I'll go after Mom... The debris... they fell near our house." His voice was quiet but urgent, his gaze already fixed in the direction of our home.
I clung weakly to his shirt, my consciousness barely hanging on. "Eren... I want to come too..." I whispered, my voice feeble. He smiled faintly, his face inches from mine, and his lips brushed my forehead. His shaky words barely reached me. "Don't worry... I'll find you with Mom... Get well soon."
Before I could say more, he turned and ran, disappearing into the destruction, no matter how much we protested. "Ereh... Ereh!!" My voice cracked, but it was no use. Those were my last words before the world around me faded into darkness, and I drifted away from the cruelty of it all.
When I woke up, it was three days later. I was in a refugee warehouse, surrounded by the displaced residents of Shiganshina and Wall Maria. The memories of that day flooded back, and a cold shock gripped my heart.
I leaped to my feet, searching frantically from warehouse to warehouse, calling his name. But Eren was nowhere to be found. Hours passed, and finally, I found Armin. He looked like a ghost—pale, hollow, and drained of all hope.
The loss of Eren and the cruel fate of his grandfather, who was sent on the "expedition" to retake Wall Maria, weighed heavily on him. We both knew that expedition was nothing more than a death sentence for the elderly, a way to send them into the jaws of the titans.
Armin told me Eren hadn't made it, but I refused to believe it. I clung to any shred of hope until Captain Hannes approached me. His face was somber as he confessed his failure.
Eren had done everything to protect his mother, but in the end, she was devoured by a grotesque blonde titan. The titan had smiled—a twisted, horrifying smile—before swallowing her whole. And Eren after witnessing that he... He got crushed by a falling house in the process.
In that moment, my world shattered. I wept for days, sick with grief. The weight of it was unbearable, and there were times when I thought of ending it all. The idea of suicide crossed my mind more than once, but then... I thought of Eren. He would loathe me for even considering such a thing.
He wanted me to live. To survive. For him, I chose to carry on, no matter how much it hurt.
And that's when I made the decision: for my most beloved, for Eren, his purpose to kill titans became mine. I would fight to the bitter end, and if I was meant to die in the process, so be it. But there was one regret that stayed locked away in my heart, tormenting me.
Why hadn't I told him how much I loved him? How much I wanted to be with him? The words were always on the tip of my tongue, but I never let them out. And because of that, I began to loathe myself more than anything.
But... This world is really cruel and yet really, really beautiful because....it has Eren in it.
Year 847
"My name is Eren Yeager..."
Those words, so familiar, so powerful, echoed in my ears, and in that moment, my world shifted. My heart pounded against my chest, and for the first time in what felt like forever, it was as if I was reborn.
It was Eren—my Eren.
So tall now and so grown up. The sight of him sent a wave of emotion crashing over me, and without warning, a bright smile spread across my face as tears rolled down my cheeks uncontrollably.
"Ereh..." The word slipped out of my mouth in a whisper, filled with the overwhelming joy and relief I had been denying myself for so long.
He was alive.